Author Topic: I'm back with some sense of motivation (Read 3492 times)

guitarstitch · « **on:** February 12, 2021, 12:09:56 pm »

Hey all, I'm back.

Since I disappeared, I lost 6 of my 7 hives. One was most likely due to mite load. The other 5 were wiped out by carpenter ants.

My one angry hive survived perfectly and are already building up nicely for spring. (They seem less angry so far this year).

I'm going back to more traditional beekeeping tactics instead of trying fancy stuff. I will be using a mixture of foundationless and acorn foundation in my brood and honey supers (if I get around to supering). My primary focus this year is to split often and get my apiary up to around 10 sustainable hives. Entering my fourth year of beekeeping, I feel like I have gotten past the phase where I know everything I need to know and can almost call myself an amateur confidently. ;)

The15thMember · « **Reply #1 on:** February 12, 2021, 02:03:44 pm »

Hi Stitch, good to see you around again.

The KISS method is always a good way to go, and figuring out how to be sustainable in your beekeeping is a great goal. Once you are there, you can then afford to experiment. Best of luck to you, and hopefully things go better for you this time around.

Bill Murray · « **Reply #2 on:** February 12, 2021, 02:15:06 pm »

Stitch. I also fought the carpenter ants for quite a few years, some nights the boxes were literately covered. Found a product that works 100%, at least for me. TERRO liquid ant bait. Once you know you have an infestation go out at night and place a bait station in the path of ants coming to the hive. And the holes to small for the bees to access.

JurassicApiary · « **Reply #3 on:** February 13, 2021, 04:36:19 pm »

Thankfully I don't have Carpenter Ant issues. We have little sugar ants which I find making home in between the inner cover and telescoping covers regularly, but they don't seem to interfere with business in the hive to my surprise.

I do regularly run into centipedes when I take off the telescoping covers though... almost every week.

Good luck starting back up Stitch.

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 14, 2021, 12:04:33 am »

Jurassic,
I would be willing to bet that those centipedes eat small hive beetles, Given a chance.
Jim Altmiller

JurassicApiary · « **Reply #5 on:** February 14, 2021, 02:41:59 am »

Quote from: sawdstmakr on February 14, 2021, 12:04:33 am

Jurassic,
I would be willing to bet that those centipedes eat small hive beetles, Given a chance.
Jim Altmiller

To be honest, I had not given that any thought, but I bet you're absolutely right, Jim. I just have to watch my fingers...about 50% of the time they're on the side of the box under the cover near the top where your fingers may skirt as you lift the cover off.

Ben Framed · « **Reply #6 on:** February 14, 2021, 02:46:46 am »

Quote from: JurassicApiary on February 14, 2021, 02:41:59 am

Quote from: sawdstmakr on February 14, 2021, 12:04:33 am
Jurassic,
I would be willing to bet that those centipedes eat small hive beetles, Given a chance.
Jim Altmiller

To be honest, I had not given that any thought, but I bet you're absolutely right, Jim. I just have to watch my fingers...about 50% of the time they're on the side of the box under the cover near the top where your fingers may skirt as you lift the cover off.

Jim you may be on to something good!

JojoBeeBoy · « **Reply #7 on:** February 15, 2021, 06:06:45 pm »

Quote from: guitarstitch on February 12, 2021, 12:09:56 pm

... My primary focus this year is to split often and get my apiary up to around 10 sustainable hives. Entering my fourth year of beekeeping, I feel like I have gotten past the phase where I know everything I need to know and can almost call myself an amateur confidently. ;)

Hope that it all works to your liking. Last year I decided if I wanted 4-5 to come through winter I'd better have 15-20 going in. Started in Nov with 14 and so far 14 are alive, but we've had no winter at all in Mid-TN and I've had both late and early lessons in humility on the wintering front. Until mid-March I'm not calling anything survivor.

Like you, I'm hoping to just be sustainable, not buy bees, and maybe have a few queens around for the neighbors. Started tinkering with raising queens this past year. That has been more fun than anything yet. Best wishes

guitarstitch · « **Reply #8 on:** February 16, 2021, 12:58:13 pm »

Quote from: Bill Murray on February 12, 2021, 02:15:06 pm

Stitch. I also fought the carpenter ants for quite a few years, some nights the boxes were literately covered. Found a product that works 100%, at least for me. TERRO liquid ant bait. Once you know you have an infestation go out at night and place a bait station in the path of ants coming to the hive. And the holes to small for the bees to access.

I've also been informed by some locals that Fipronil (Taurus SC) works well. Reading the data on it, it appears to bind to the soil, which presents little risk to the hives.

Bill Murray · « **Reply #9 on:** February 17, 2021, 10:42:13 am »

Well I lost 20 hives last year due to peanut spraying. Herbicides, Fungicides plus insecticides equals dead bees. Go figure. The owner of the property I put them on said the field had not been used for 6 years. It was his neighbors field. The apiary inspector came out and had a look because I hadn't seen anything like that before. Long story short. Now I know about peanuts. Back to what you said, follow this link https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/fipronil-responsible-for-historic-honeybee-die-off-/3009865.article Just saying.

Barhopper · « **Reply #10 on:** February 17, 2021, 07:12:21 pm »

Bill Murray
How close to the peanuts were your bees? The reason I ask is I have bees on a two square mile peanut farm. They?re several hundred yards from the closest field but I haven?t had a problem in 5 years.

Bill Murray · « **Reply #11 on:** February 17, 2021, 07:41:52 pm »

About 50 yards with a patch of trees in between. lets keep this going I am very interested in water availability where you are.because the end conclusion on this end was once the ground was plowed that was where they were getting water from.

BeeMaster2 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 17, 2021, 09:03:19 pm »

Bill,
I would check with our at ag agent. I?m pretty sure most pesticides, Herbicides and Fungicides breakdown in just a few years. The exception being the systematic pesticides.
Jim Altmiller

Bill Murray · « **Reply #13 on:** February 17, 2021, 10:03:45 pm »

Quote

I would check with our at ag agent. I?m pretty sure most pesticides, Herbicides and Fungicides breakdown in just a few years. The exception being the systematic pesticides.

Well that confuses me Jim. I already had the AI out there. And not the least bit interested in moving bees out there again. The one thing I did find out after talking with the peanut grower was they leave the fields fallow 4-5 years rotational. Here is a partial list of insecticides chlorpyrifos, phorate, aldicarb, esfenvalerate, methomyl, carbaryl,and cyhalothrin. Hope these are spelled right off my notes.These are applied on a rotational basis from planting to before flowers appear. (thats like 35-40 days) there are also herbicides and fungicides applied before this right after plowing. Made me not want peanuts anymore, and I really like them. I chalk this one up to my own ignorance.

guitarstitch · « **Reply #14 on:** February 18, 2021, 03:42:59 pm »

Quote from: Bill Murray on February 17, 2021, 10:42:13 am

Well I lost 20 hives last year due to peanut spraying. Herbicides, Fungicides plus insecticides equals dead bees. Go figure. The owner of the property I put them on said the field had not been used for 6 years. It was his neighbors field. The apiary inspector came out and had a look because I hadn't seen anything like that before. Long story short. Now I know about peanuts. Back to what you said, follow this link https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/fipronil-responsible-for-historic-honeybee-die-off-/3009865.article Just saying.

The half life for Fipronil is around 128 days in aerobic soils. It would be possible for it to persist for a few years if treated annually.
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/archive/fiptech.html#:~:text=The%20half%2Dlife%20of%20fipronil,128%20days%20in%20aerobic%20soils.

My intent to use the fipronil is based on the experiences of a successful member of our bee club.

In full disclosure and in the interest of science, we should consider the application and other factors:
He uses it (as I plan to) in small quantities as a barrier around the hive stands specifically to ward off the carpenter ants. This is a considerably more conservative application than using it as a general pesticide for treating an entire crop. Since bees are not inclined to forage right next to their hives, I have little concern about the interaction between the bees and the small treated areas.

Now, it is interesting to note that I do have a pond on my property from which the bees frequently drink. The hive locations are roughly 150 - 250 ft from the pond.

Bill Murray · « **Reply #15 on:** February 18, 2021, 09:30:15 pm »

Im going to say something here that contradicts something I do. Ill put it this way. I am usually against pesticides unless it is absolutely necessary. let me know how it works out brother.

quietmorning · « **Reply #16 on:** February 18, 2021, 09:46:21 pm »

Quote from: JojoBeeBoy on February 15, 2021, 06:06:45 pm

Quote from: guitarstitch on February 12, 2021, 12:09:56 pm
... My primary focus this year is to split often and get my apiary up to around 10 sustainable hives. Entering my fourth year of beekeeping, I feel like I have gotten past the phase where I know everything I need to know and can almost call myself an amateur confidently. ;)
Hope that it all works to your liking. Last year I decided if I wanted 4-5 to come through winter I'd better have 15-20 going in. Started in Nov with 14 and so far 14 are alive, but we've had no winter at all in Mid-TN and I've had both late and early lessons in humility on the wintering front. Until mid-March I'm not calling anything survivor.

Like you, I'm hoping to just be sustainable, not buy bees, and maybe have a few queens around for the neighbors. Started tinkering with raising queens this past year. That has been more fun than anything yet. Best wishes

**chuckles** I'm looking outside at our 6inches of snow over the inch of ice. . . here in Mid TN - mother nature doesn't play by the rules, here. Hope your bees are making it through this surprise real for once in a decade winter we're having this year.

Barhopper · « **Reply #17 on:** February 19, 2021, 05:45:09 pm »

The bees on the farm water at a small pond and a couple stock tanks in the middle of the property. They grow peanuts every year. The spray herbicides and fungicides every year. The did take a year off peanuts to grow cotton about eight years ago but I didn?t have bees there at that time. Thinking back I did lose one hive a couple years ago. I would say they got into something by the way the bees were piled on the bottom board but that was one out of twelve. The other eleven were fine.

Bill Murray · « **Reply #18 on:** February 19, 2021, 09:00:50 pm »

This was why I kinda wanted to keep discussing this. The mutual consensus was the water issue. once the ground was plowed that was the easiest place to suck water. There was no stock-tank, pond swamp etc. Now I didnt get out there to see them but about once every week but 1 week 20 vibrant hives next week dead at the doorstep and bottom of hives. I mean piled up. 2 still had bees. I integrated them, moved them back to the house, re queened, put sugar water on them within 3 days they were piled up also. So my assumption was the combs and all were polluted with something.

Barhopper · « **Reply #19 on:** February 21, 2021, 06:22:41 pm »

Where these bees are at there is lots of Blackjack oak and sand pine. The bees are actually on the edge of a sand mine that?s surrounded by the rest of the farm. I?m keeping my fingers crossed that I have no experiences like you?ve had. Honey production is very hit and miss in the area so we might moved the bees to one of our more productive yards.